The team of Fernanda Pesce, Fabiola Sánchez and Eduardo Verdugo spent months with victims' families and authorities to explain why decades after the problem of femicides was recognized by Mexico's leaders the killings of women continue at a frightening pace. They attended protest marches, court hearings and interviewed the prosecutor in charge of investigating such cases in Mexico state, the nation’s femicide leader. They talked to victims of violence, and victims’ relatives and patrolled with police in areas under state-sanctioned gender alerts. While some politicians attribute the killings to Mexico’s organized crime or a deterioration in family structure, experts say the real causes lie in gender inequality, machismo and misogyny. The package was used widely by AP clients, including the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Toronto Star, PBS and Univision.
Mexico team explains country's struggle against femicide
Photographs of Monica Citlalli Diaz are displayed during her wake inside her home in San Salvador Atenco, State of Mexico, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. The 30-year-old English teacher became the ninth apparent femicide during an 11-day spate of killings in and around Mexico City from late October to early November.
AP PHOTO/EDUARDO VERDUGO